


Damaged

by Chasing_Rabbits



Series: MCU A/B/O adventures [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha Thor (Marvel), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Beta Natasha Romanov, Beta Pepper Potts, Brainwashed Loki (Marvel), Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Found Family, Gen, I keep writing this at 3am, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Bruce Banner, Omega Clint Barton, Omega Loki (Marvel), Omega Tony Stark, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Science Bros, Takes place right after the battle in New York, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2020-03-08 21:17:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18902821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Rabbits/pseuds/Chasing_Rabbits
Summary: Tony has always been the very public face of Stark Industries. He knows how to control the media flow. He knows what the cameras likes, what the cameras want. But it’s hard to keep secrets in the shadows when you’re being flooded with lights.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumping straight into Tony getting his heat. Nothing sexual but if you're worried about that, why are you here? JK, love you guys.  
> Steve walks in and calls Bruce for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop there it is! Oh God, did I just give away my age? Anyways, uploads are gonna go pretty smoothly with my outline. But I still have to figure out how to get used to AO3.

Tony laid on his battered, broken couch. The city around him was just as bad, cracked and crumbling. Repairs to both the city and his tower were well underway, and some parts were mostly done. But unlike New York, his tower’s construction was halted for an indefinite amount of time. His depression was at its all-time lowest and he was tired as hell.

 

Well, that’s the excuse he gave to his makeshift construction crew of his 3 only friends. In reality, Tony was t-minus 2 days until going into heat and outing his best kept secret. This of course, wouldn’t have happened if New York wasn’t attacked by an alien Demigod last week.

 

Tony huffed in annoyance and heaved himself off his couch. He had just ordered his suppressants the day of the attack, only for the 3-day amazon prime package to be lost in the chaos of the falling city. It was already sketchy business making monthly payments to a random online seller. The guy only sold the pills one week out of the month and Stark had barely made it to this month’s sell before they ran out. He tried to go to the closest omega clinic that was still open but when they had heard his lifetime dependency on the drugs they quickly turned him down. Something about taking the pills for so  long might give him ‘adverse effects’. And no sum of money or begging could change their refusal note.

 

When the doctor told him the news, Tony shut down building repairs, which thankfully left only the bare necessities to a semi functional state.

 

In the meantime, Tony paced around the wreckage trying to configure a plan.

 

-

 

Tony woke up later in a sweaty and icky mess. A cascade of empty bottles of booze clattered to the ground as Tony got off his couch.

 

Tony groaned as the pain began to pulse through his head. He rubbed at his temples idly.

“JARVIS, time.” “The time is 18:32,” JARVIS responded. Tony jumped through some mental hoops in his head to just figure out the math.

“I slept for 15 hours?” He said almost surprised.

“Side effects of alcohol consumption.”

 

Tony chuckled. “Haha, yeah. What a shocker.” He said sarcastically. Tony tried taking a few steps before he felt the room spin around him.

“What the actual fuck. I thought the booze would be out of my system by now.” Tony clenched his abdomen as his stomach began to threaten him with bile.

“Sir, I’m afraid that _isn’t_  an effect of the alcohol,” JARVIS said solemnly, “I presume that your body is going through the early stages of preheat. I suggest to prepare yourself for it.”

Tony’s heart began to race as the realization dawned on him. Ton ran his hands through his hair. “No,” he whispered out. “No, no, no, no. No!” He said a little louder.

“This can’t be happening! Not right now. What happened to the extra days I had? I thought that I had another day to come up with some sort of plan.” Tony yelled at the ceiling. His heart was now beating out of his chest while the walls and ceiling began to creep towards him.

 

He put his hand over his whirling reactor. Panic beginning to cloud Tony's mind; dizzying him.

 

He had to run.

 

He wasn't safe.

 

Everything was happening **_too_ ** fast.

 

Tony ran, or did his absolute best to run to the elevator and pressed the button to his floor.

 

He anxiously held onto the elevator railing as he tried his best to breathe

 

“Goddamn doctor!” Tony hissed as he stumbled out and down the still ripped up hallway from the elevator. He gripped the wall, trying his best to steady himself, praying that his wobbly knees wouldn't give.

 

Tony sucked a breath of fresh hair in relief as he passed the threshold of his room. “That-” Tony blinked heard trying to configure a sentence that could make sense even in his own mind. “- Th-that doctor should lose his m-medical licence.”

 

Tony gasped as his knees buckled under his weight and was left shivering on the floor. He wasn’t trying to be melodramatic, but this new experience was dizzying and completely foreign to him.

“Sir, I would highly advise against any sort of lawsuit at your correct mental state.” JARVIS remarked.  Tony whimpered and painfully crawled across his room and hauled himself to his bed.

 

“I would also suggest that you grant override codes to Ms. Potts, Mr. Hogan and Colonel Rhodes in cases of emergency until you have fully recovered.” JARVIS said. Tony hissed in disapproval. “No!” Tony said through clenched teeth. “No, don’t let any of them see me like this.” Tony said curling  further into himself.

 

“Sir, Ms. Potts will only become more concerned if you suddenly block her access codes.” JARVIS said slowly, almost cautiously. “Access codes that you have not restricted, for years. She will become suspicious.”

 

Tony whined under his breath. His mind was struggling to come up with any objections or even a quick quip.

“Fine then. Everyone will be blocked except _her_ codes.”

He was tired and in pain, it didn't take long for him to fall into another, deep sleep.

 

-

 

Steve tapped his foot anxiously on the way up to Tony’s floor, thinking over the messenge Ms. Potts had sent him to take care of Tony. From the way she worded it, Tony got really bad when he was in his lows. And it only concerned Steve further that Stark hadn’t responded to anyone’s messages in the past few days.

 

The elevator dinged and he stepped out quickly. “Hey Tony!” He called out to the quiet tower and set down his bag. “Your friend, Ms. Potts called me to check up on you."

 

A small groan came from deeper in the hallway that caught Steve’s attention. “Tony?” He called out in concern. “Tony are you home?” He said a little louder. Another pained groan and Steve dropped his bag and made a mad dash to the groaning.

 

Tony had been completely alone for the past few days. Steve had still very jumpy since the battle of New York. No one could blame him from imagining what terrible things his teammate would go through to not be able to suit up. He thought of every equation that could end up with Tony groaning in pain. Alone. For who knows how long.

 

His legs carried him down the stairs to Tony's floor. He tore down the hallway and slammed the door open.

"Tony!"

From all the scenarios that Steve had conjured up in his mind. This. This was not one of them.

 

At first he was understandably confused.

 

He couldn't quite figure out what was going on in front of him.

 

Until he breathed in.

 

"T-Tony?" Steve whined at the scent that reached his nose. A sweet rain like scent fresh and warm. His whine got the attention of the omega in the bed and he turned to face him.

 

The omega's eyes met his. Beautiful, brown eyes, half lidded. The omega took a big breath in, obviously searching for the alpha. But when he found it, the omega didn't give the reaction Steve imagined he would, instead Tony's eyes flew open with panic.

 

His wild eyes fell on Steve and the trance was broken.

 

Tony's whole body shook. The Sweet smell shifted to a bitter electric tone with fear. Tony's heart began to ache as Steve stood at the doorway. Every fiber of his body cried to him but Tony reigned himself before his mind drifted farther.

 

“Get out,” Tony breathed out. He noticed the alpha stir, confusion and distress hung on the air that only agitated Tony further.

 

“I said, gET OUT!”  Tony lashed out only to feel his guts twist painfully. An almost silent whimper of pain escaped him.

Steve stood in the doorway for a brief second and then turned to run. The omega’s heart broke at every step he heard from Steve getting farther and farther away.

Tony cried out in pain and fell onto his bed.

 

“J-JARVIS! Lock my floor. _No one_  comes in!” Tony yelled at the ceiling.

JARVIS’ disembodied voice said a solemn yes sir and then left him.

 

-

 

Steve ran into the common room dazed and panicked, stumbling on his feet. Had he _really_  seen Tony in heat? He didn't even know Tony was an omega. For all he had known he was a beta. Was he just so caught up in the New York battle to even notice the secondary gender of his teammate? No, he noticed Bruce was an omega, smelled a hint of omega even on Clint. How could he have not scented Tony? Steve placed a hand on his forehead. _This is bad_ , he thought to himself, _what do I do??_ It took Steve a moment to gather his thoughts together. _Bruce, he needs Bruce._  Steve scrambled for his phone and clumsily, dialed Banner’s number as fast as he could. The phone rang on the other side of the line for a while until a voice chimed in from the other side.

 

“Hello, Banner speaking” Bruce's soft voice rang through.

“Bruce! Bruce, you need to come to the Stark tower quick!” Steve urged.

 

“Oh hey Cap, what's up. Is there something wrong?”

“Tony he's- he’s-” Steve couldn't find himself to say the words he needed.

“Tony? What's wrong with Tony is he sick or-” Steve cut Bruce off before he could say anything else.

“Tony's in heat.” Steve said slowly, letting the news sink in.

 

“Tony is in heat…” Bruce echoed just as slowly as Steve had.

“Yes. I just walked in on accident. I don't think he was so far along or he would have…”

“I'm on my way Cap, don't worry.” “ _What?_ What about the convention?” Steve asked.

“I think that Tony's heat is more important than a medical convention.” Steve tried to argue back but Bruce interrupted, “besides no one appreciates Dr. Bruce Banner. They prefer _the Hulk ._ ” Bruce said almost bitterly. But Steve felt the joking tone on the other’s voice and helped him ease his nerves.

 

“What should I do in the meantime then?” Steve pulled his hair back anxiously.

“For the _meantime ,_ give him some space. I'll be there in around an hour.” Steve absently nodded to himself. _He could do that._  “Try to gather as much water and energy bars as possible. Also make a pile of the team's dirty clothes.”

 

Steve had to stop for a second to register the instructions and was about to ask why but Banner practically read his mind over the phone. “He needs to be comforted by the scents of the team. It will help with the pain.” Bruce said quietly.

 

Steve let out an uncomfortable sigh. “Alright then. See you soon?”

“I'm getting on the chopper now, I'll be there in around an hour and a half.”

“See you then.” Steve said shortly. “Bye” Bruce said and ended the call.

 

-

 

Tony jumped when he felt his mattress dip under the weight of a foreign body.

“Shhhh…” Bruce's voice whispered sweetly. Tony tried turning to Bruce, preparing himself to throw out as many quick witted insults when a pain shot through his body, causing him to let out a cry.

 

“It's okay Tony.” Bruce said calmly as he gently put a hand on his shoulder. The warm touch seemed to overpower the pain he had been feeling. He jumped at the change and shied away from the hand only for the pain to return.He turned fully to the other omega.

“How-? How did you do that? How did you stop the pain?” Tony asked confused.

“The pains are a side effect of the heat. Physical interactions ease them.” Bruce said moving himself  closer to Tony’s body, only for him to shrink away.

“Tony. We both know you need this.” Bruce said calmly, but Tony didn’t budge.

“Don’t worry Tony. I’ve got you.” He said as he placed a hand on Tony’s arm, softly rubbing with his thumb.

Tony relaxed into the touch. “You’re going to be ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys this story is so long. I'll try to tighten up the outline and fill in some more action packed scenes. Hopefully it will turn out good.  
> Anyways thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry this took really long  
> Life happened and now I’m an adult! Yay. My friend actually helped me edit this so thanks to her it got done a whole lot quicker.

Bruce entered the kitchen. The distant look on his face matched Steve’s exhausted expression; the Alpha was spaced as he leaned over the counter with his arms crossed, his head low.ing more evident 

“Is it over?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, it’s done with,” Bruce reported, rubbing the heel of his palm over his forehead. 

“Thank goodness,” Steve breathed out.

“Yeah, I'm not sure if I could take another day of being smothered by Tony's death hugs,” Bruce joked as he reached into a cabinet for an energy bar. 

Steve laughed shortly in amusement. “I wouldn't take Tony as a murderous cuddler.” 

Bruce gave a hearty chuckle as he shook his head. “Yeah, it’s the heat. It affects behavior, hormones screwing with the brain and such. Without constant contact and comfort, anything resembling function is out of the question. You can’t eat or sleep by yourself because you can’t even begin to think straight.” Bruce hesitated for a moment as he opened the food bar, eyeing Steve to see if he caught the subtle shift to an inclusive perspective.

He did not.

“Yeah, it must've been a real drag,” Steve tried to joke. Of course it fell flat, Steve was far too tired to properly quip back.

 

Bruce bristled; he had honestly not thought about Steve's perspective. Or of any Alpha’s perspective, for that matter. He was always too caught up with the challenges of being an Omega to even consider the other side of the biological coin. Bruce swallowed hard and respectfully lowered his head, “and how did it go for you?”

Steve blinked and straightened up a bit, deliberately avoiding Bruce's eyes in discomfort. “I ...managed…” Steve paused. ”Between the errands you sent me on, I would try reading books, cleaning, playing cards, fixing up things here in the tower, or learning a bit more of what happened while I was under the ice. To….ya’ know... try to keep my mind busy,” He shifted uncomfortably.

Busy enough to distract from the heat scent, went unsaid between the two.

Bruce smiled; Steve was really trying. Every heat Bruce had experienced in the past had been a total nightmare. The few times he had brushed past Alphas while in heat almost invariably ended as well as one might expect: horribly. It was a nice change of pace to not worry about anything like that happening to Tony while Steve was around. 

It was new.

“You're a good man, Steve, you know that? Alphas haven't really changed a lot since your time, and Tony and I sincerely appreciate the respect you have given us.”

Steve shook his head, giving Bruce a sheepish smile. “It’s nothing, I just want to take care of my team.” 

“No, that's everything. Last time I started my heat near an Alpha, I had to run for my life. You being here, actually helping and protecting Tony, is one of the most humble things an Alpha could do.” Bruce searched Steve's eyes.

Steve flashed a tired smile to Bruce. “Thanks for flattering me Banner, but really, it's nothing.”

Bruce took another bite of the energy bar and looked down to the floor. It wasn't hard at all to admit that Steve's protective nature made Bruce blush. Any sensible Omega in his place would also do the same. It was very humbling to see this big, brawny Alpha disregard his own personal needs and desires to help a teammate out.

Which reminded Bruce...

“Oh, I almost forgot. There is one last thing Tony asked for before he fell back asleep,” Bruce added, fishing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“What is it now?” Steve said turning to Bruce.

“Burgers from that one fast food joint six miles away. And you’re also not allowed to use his cars.”  
Steve groaned and Bruce chuckled.

-

Bruce gave a soft knock before entering Tony's room. When he opened the door, he saw Tony slowly stirring awake. Tony lay curled up in the middle of his nest. Clothes and blankets were strewn about the bed in a manner seen as ‘comfy’ and ‘safe’. 

Bruce quietly tip-toed his way across the room and softly climbed onto the bed, careful not to jostle the food in the paper bag.

Tony's eyes flickered open when Bruce shook him lightly.

“Hey Tony, Steve brought you some food.” 

Tony yawned and stretched his arms forward, reaching for Bruce with grabby hands. Bruce sighed and allowed himself to be pulled into a lazy hug. 

Bruce chuckled. “I thought you would be done with hugging after your heat was over?” 

Tony snaked his arms around Bruce. “Who said this was a hug?” Tony suggested slyly as he swiped the bag from Bruce's hands and quickly returned to the center of his nest with the food. Tony shuffled a bit in his spot, making himself as comfortable as he could before finally bringing his knees up. Tony dug through the bag and pulled out a burger. 

“You eat already?” Tony asked as he took a big bite of the burger. 

Bruce shrugged. “I ate an energy bar a while ago.” 

“Come sit with me,” Tony invited, patting the spot next to him. Bruce gave a curt yet sheepish nod and crawled across bed. He made himself comfy next to Tony, making sure to keep pleasant pressure of physical contact. Tony leaned into the comfort that Bruce gave. 

Yeah, Tony’s heat was still definitely affecting him. 

“How do you feel?” Bruce asked.

Tony took another bite and shrugged dramatically. “I dunno. I feel kinda hot and bothered, but I guess other than that I'm ok?” 

Bruce hummed, obviously making metal notes. 

And here Tony thought Bruce was asking as a friend. Tony took another bite. Somehow his burger lost its flavor, he wrapped it back up and placed it in the bag.

“I suggest having a check-up and general blood analysis to see how everything is." Bruce said

Tony rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Brucie, we'll figure out all that stuff later. For right now," Tony leaned back into the nest and gave a sigh, "Let's just relax."

Bruce let his body sink to the mattress. He was soooo exhausted. Right as Bruce closed his tired eyes, there was a quiet knock at the door. "Is Tony awake? Most importantly, is he decent?" Steve's voice rang through a crack in the door.

Tony grabbed a pillow and shoved it on his face, groaning loudly. "Yeah, he's awake-" Bruce laughed as Tony rolled off the bed, throwing the pillows across the room and went to grab a pair of pajama pants and shirt to slip into. 

"And decent." Bruce added as Tony stalked across the room. 

Tony snatched the door knob and threw the door open. Steve stood there startled, his mouth wide open. Tony glared at him angrily. 

"What d’ya want, Capsicle?" Tony snarled, crossing his arms in open frustration.

"I-uh. Uh—" Steve stammered, heavily fidgeting with the strap of his pack. 

Tony tapped his foot impatiently. 

"—How do I get into the training room?” Steve asked sheepishly.

“It's voice activated. I gave you a code word—” 

“Captain handsome, right?” 

“Good, you remembered.” Tony said, slightly annoyed at being interrupted, but he couldn't help but crack a cruel grin at the wickedly amusing phrase. “You just say that and the doors just open up.” Tony lazily waved.

“I did that. It keeps saying that there's an error and the room cannot be accessed.” Steve said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

For all the time that Tony had personally known the Captain, he had never not maintained a respectful amount of eye contact. And it was strange that now he couldn't even look at Tony; it made him feel uncomfortable.

“So, uh,” Steve said. Tony was almost startled when Steve finally locked eyes with him. “Help?”

Tony blinked, surprised by Steve's tone. An odd flutter bloomed in his chest. Tony quickly squashed the new feeling and mentally shook himself. He pushed himself off the door frame. “Alright, Capsicle. Let's see what's going on.” 

Steve smiled and proceeded to lead the way.

-

As they walked across the floor of the tower, Tony noticed a few things. A few major things. A few very interesting things.

Tony finally spoke up when the elevator doors closed. “Looks like you’ve been a bit busy, huh?” 

Steve turned to him. “What was that?”

Tony begrudgingly repeated himself. “I saw you fixed a good amount of things here and there. Seems like you’ve been busy.”

Steve smiled. “Oh! That! Yeah, I thought I could help you with some of the repairs. But don't worry, I read your construction notes and did what I knew I could do, so I didn't mess with all the complicated electrical stuff.”

“Uh huh…. You did quite a lot. Actually, how long did it take?”

Steve's head nodded from side to side in a quick calculation of his activities. He paused for a second. “A little more than seventy hours?” Steve finally answered.

Tony looked down to his watch for a reference. “Wait, how often did you sleep?” Tony asked, confused. The math Tony counted in his head didn't add up: he had only been in his heat haze for the better part of three days, ending a few hours ago by his reckoning, but if what Steve said was true... His math couldn't be wrong, it was never wrong...

But Steve finally answered his fears, “I- I didn't. Didn't feel right to sleep when there were things to be done. But I did take a few brief naps when I got tired enough, so it's all good.”

Tony went to say something. He had opened his mouth, but that was as far he was going to get: the elevator doors opened and the topic was dropped. The observation room was oddly intact, and so were the doors, so why would they be malfunctioning?

 

Since voice activation wasn’t working, Tony went for the numerical keypad. It also didn’t work.

“Hmm.” Tony tried the password again. Nope. Still didn't work.

Tony dropped to a squat and opened a small panel that Steve hadn't noticed before. Steve leaned closer to look at what Tony was doing exactly.

Tony proceeded to pull a wad of wires out of the small door and examined them. A few seconds of intense inspection, then Tony called out to the ceiling. “JARVIS, run diagnosis.” 

After a few moments Tony looked back up to Steve’s direction. “Hey man, you mind getting my tools? They’re in-” 

“I know where they’re at. I’ll go run and get them.”

In a blink of an eye, Steve was already gone. Tony sighed, feeling an odd relief with the Alpha’s presence absent. He shook out the feeling and went back to work.

-

It was an easy problem to find. Some wires had malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. Steve didn't take long to come back with the tools, and it took even less time to fix the problem. When Tony finished, he got up and went for the elevator without a word.

Steve was hit with a need to stay beside Tony, an odd pull towards him. A need to look after him: to protect him. That was when Steve noticed his nose flaring involuntarily, and he understood what was happening to him. 

To say Steve wasn’t used to an Omega’s scent was an understatement: as a child, Steve had had basically no exposure to an Omega’s scent other than his mother’s. Growing up, there weren’t many omegas, something to do with the stressful times before the war causing a decrease of Omega births.

After the elevator doors closed behind the Omega, Steve shook himself from whatever remnant of Tony’s lingering scent was trying to keep a grip on him.

-

Bruce turned his head when he heard the elevator doors open with a ding.

“Thought I’d find you here,” Tony called from the elevator across the lab.

“You were looking for me? I didn’t know I was that famous.”

Tony gave a hearty chuckle. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Of course you would know how popularity gets to people.” Tony made his way to Bruce’s side and hoped to the counter top.

“Tony, what are you doing?” Bruce asked, barely looking up from his Starkpad.

“Alrighty, doc.” Tony said, rubbing his hands together. “You gonna give me my checkup?”

Bruce sighed. “Tony. I don't think I have sufficient knowledge of secondary gendered biology to help you.” He slowly put the pad down and turned to face him. 

“What? No. Nononono—” Tony stammered out.

“Sorry Tony. The field is way too specialized for me to know how to properly help you.”

“Shit. Please no, don’t say that Brucie. I thought you were a doctor.” Tony sighed and placed his head on his hands.

“You know I’m not that kind of doctor.” Bruce said sympathetically. “There’s not much I can do other than state any obvious problems.”

Tony jerked up. “What obvious problems?” 

Bruce looked down. “Tony, your hormones are all over the place. I mean—” Bruce waved his had in front of his nose. “—your scent is very potent. You reek of afterheat and I can smell your moodiness.” 

Tony snarled. He opened his mouth to argue with the other Omega, but something else entirely escaped his mouth. 

Tony straightened up in sheer shock. Bruce only blinked.

“What the hell was that?" Tony put his hand over his chest, from where the noise seemed to emulate from.

“How should I know? I wasn’t the one who made it!” Bedside manner was not one of Bruce’s specialties.

“You’re the doct—” Tony doubled over clutching his midsection as repeated a more recognizable form of the noise: a whimper.

Bruce immediately started inspecting Tony, who let out a distressed noise as he was being poked and prodded. “Talk to me Tony, what's going on,” Bruce implored gently.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as a wave of pain came over him. “My- My stomach hurts."

Bruce carefully pulled Tony's hands from his abdomen. “Does it hurt here?—” Bruce gently pressed down a few inches above Tony’s belly button, “—or here?” 

Tony almost jumped out of his skin. “There! It definitely hurts there!” Tony almost screamed, but quickly replaced it with a nervous chuckle. Tony heard a concerned whine escape the other Omega.

Bruce let go of Tony, reluctant to voice what needed to be said. He took a step back, still keeping his eyes on the Omega.

“JARVIS, call Steve to come here, say it's urgent. I need to call a doctor.” Bruce said to the ceiling.

“Don't you dare rope anyone else into this,” Tony snarled.

Before Bruce could speak, the doors opened and Steve ran in. “Banner! Is there something wrong? Is it Tony?” he asked in a worried tone.

Tony hissed at Steve when he came too close to the two of them, but Bruce shrugged it off and immediately got to work. 

“Steve, Tony has to go see a doctor. I'll get an appointment, but you need to help Tony get ready.”

As Steve took a step closer, Tony let out a growl. “Back off Cap. I can take care of my own damn self.” Tony snarled.

He then blacked out as the wave of pain sharpened.

-

Tony's knee bounced furiously as he clung to his jacket. Saying he was nervous was an understatement. You could smell the fear on him. He tried to spray himself profusely with scent blockers before they left for the doctor's, but his newly awakened endocrine system was hard at work pumping out as many Omega pheromones as possible before his body went back to being numb with suppressants. 

Tony’s nose was still trying to get used to how strong the scents around him were. He could smell the Alpha nurse behind the counter. He could smell the Omega boy and his Beta partner from across the room; the Omega’s scent was oddly warm and for some reason it made Tony uncomfortable. But over all of it, his own sour scent of distress engulfed the room.

Tony shifted closer to Bruce. His smooth and sweet Earl grey scent was the only thing familiar to Tony and he tried to cling to it. 

Bruce looked up from his book and gave Tony a concerned look. He leaned closer to Tony and rested his head on the top of Tony's cap. “What's wrong, bud?” 

Tony grumbled something and shifted even closer to Bruce.

“Sorry, didn't catch that,” Bruce said as he tried his best to keep his eyes from wandering back to the book on his lap.

Tony sighed. “I’m not used to all the scents.” Tony pressed his head closer to Bruce. “Everything is usually watered down and thin.”

Bruce gave a sympathetic smile. “Something to get used to, huh?”

“I hope not.” Tony grumbled.

The door next to the counter opened and a Beta nurse poked out. “Tom Carbonell? The doctor is ready for you.” 

Bruce began to gather their things, but Tony grabbed his arm before he could get up and pulled him close.

“Carbonell!? Bruce, how the hell do you know my mother's maiden name?” Tony whisper-shouted. “Also, that is so obvious! You know what? You're banned from making any more aliases.” Tony said sarcastically. 

Bruce chuckled, “Alright, that's fair.” He padded Tony's hand. “Come on, let's not keep the doctor waiting.” 

Tony stood up, but his eyes stayed on the ground. His nerves spilled out through his scent.  
They were lead to the furthest examination room from the lounge area. So far, it seemed that Bruce had handled the matter rather gently, but Tony didn't risk jinxing himself just yet.

The nurse drew Tony's blood for analysis and went ahead and gave a urine sample too. After that, they waited in the room for an ungodly amount of time for the doctor to come. Of course they would, with a sketchy alias, odd clothes, and probably a million other Omegas out there who also needed a check up.

The doctor walked in and briefly introduced himself before heading straight to work with his clipboard.  
“Okay so you have been on suppressants for most of your life, this is your first heat in years and you're complaining of stomach pain.” The Beta doctor turned the page. “Seems your analysis showed some hormones to be all over the place.”

“Doc, you can basically smell it on me.” Tony tried to joke. “All I need are the pills and then I'm out.” Tony said simply.

Bruce elbowed Tony, causing him to yelp.

“About that,” the doctor said, looking back down to his clipboard. “-your panel showed an extensive abuse of your suppressants. In my professional opinion, you should stop taking suppressants entirely.” He looked up to the two Omegas, compassion written on his face. “Start taking it easy. Settle down, maybe you can still find a good Alpha who will love you and maybe have a family. Conception might be almost impossible, but you could always adopt.”

A part of Tony broke in that moment. He didn't show it though, as a numbness came over him.  
No tears came out. There was no reason for something so trivial as tears.  
He had never really considered a family, especially since he and Pepper fell through a few months back.

Anger began to boil in him.

“How dare you!” Tony breathed, looking up from under furious brows at the doctor, his very gaze a weapon.

“I… pardon?” The doctor was taken by surprise.

“To-... Mr. Tom, you need to calm down,” Bruce stepped in, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“No, YOU calm down!” Tony stood, disarming Bruce’s sympathy and pushing him away. “We’re leaving.”

“And where will you go, Mr. Carbonell?” The doctor asked calmly, moving to be seen by the door, but not to block the exit should his patient became violent.

“To get a second opinion, because obviously yours is wrong,” Tony answered, grabbing hold of Bruce’s wrist.

Bruce didn’t budge.

“With all respect, Mr. Carbonell, you may obtain a second opinion. And a third. And as many as you like until you find one you agree with, but all the accredited and rational opinions will agree with mine,” the doctor matched Tony’s harsh tone in a brief reprise from professional courtesy.

Tony paused, taken aback by the impudence this common physician threw at him.

“Now that I have your attention, you may as well stay and hear the rest of my verdict, since you’ve already paid the fee for my consultation, and you’ll only hear a repetition of my opinion when you go seek another, no need for you to hear it but once,” the doctor continued, matching Tony’s hard gaze with his own unyielding will.

Tony sank back to his seat, guided by Bruce. The doctor was right, as much as Tony couldn’t bear to hear it.

“Let’s hear him out,” Bruce suggested softly. Tony said nothing, accepting with his brooding silence.

“Where was I…” the doctor regathered his thoughts after the tense interlude. “Ah. Yes. Substance abuse. It won’t be easy to give up your suppressants, most certainly not cold turkey like this, but there are a few coping mechanisms we can discuss, such as discussion groups or therapy.”

“I can't do that, doc.” Tony said bitterly. “I've got work to do. Now more than ever. No rest for the wicked...” Tony spoke with defeat heavy in his voice as reality sank in like salt on a raw wound.

The doctor nodded in understanding. “Well, start taking it easy with that too. About your heats, though-” his tone suddenly shifted to a more serious one, “Since you have been on suppressants for so long, there will be some adverse effects from such prolonged abuse. For starters, you’re going to experience more heats than the expected two per year; since you haven't ovulated since adolescence, your body will sort of go into overdrive to make up for lost time. And since you're closer to menopause, your heats will unfortunately be quite intense.” 

Tony sighed, letting it sink in for a moment, before he turned and looked at Bruce.

Bruce’s expression was neutral as he contemplated the verdict. Real reassuring...

“This happens a lot with your generation of Omegas,” the doctor continued, ”Fathers thought that their Omega sons would be safer as Betas and taught their children to abuse these drugs.”

“So it’s not even my fault,” Tony muttered.

“Of course it isn’t your fault. You’re the unfortunate victim of societal trends, and you’ve been left to deal with the consequences of someone else’s decisions. But make no mistake, recovery is not only possible but well documented.”

“What I'm trying to say is, Mr. Carbonell,” the doctor addressed Tony directly as his focus waned, “is that there still might be some hope for you. Find a good, strong Alpha to partner with. Your damaged uterus will heal in time. You still have a shot at a family.”

“I’m done here.” Tony said as he stood and gathered his things.

“Tony, please listen to the doctor,” Bruce said quietly, “He knows what's best for you.” Bruce tried his best to keep up with Tony as they walked out of the room.

Tony gave a long, final look to the doctor before he crossed the threshold of the room. “He told us what we needed to know and now we’re leaving.”

-

Tony kept his head down. The cap and sunglasses were enough to obstruct the majority of Tony's noticeable features: years of slipping past paparazzi had proven the strategy a reliable method. But today, there was something off about him. Tony didn’t tell Bruce yet. He couldn’t. There was just something off about being outside in the busy, crowded, smelly streets of New York that had Tony on edge.

Tony noted every glance in his direction. He tried to register the expression, emotion, and, if he could, the scent, of the offending observer. Anything that could help him gauge what everyone else was thinking, or better yet, what their intentions were.

Bruce had parked Tony’s car a good distance from the clinic so as to avoid arousing suspicion, but all Tony could think was that it wasn’t close enough. Tony continued to fixate on the passing faces and the expressions they bore, fearful of the hidden motives against him.

As they made their way back to the car, Bruce discussed the book he had been reading. In all honesty, Tony would’ve paid more attention to him, it's just that there was a particular scent carrying in the dead wind of the city as they passed an alleyway. 

It was a rank, sour scent. Not too different from the natural city stench, but there was one thing different about it; a musk had wrapped itself around it. An Alpha and Omega were down there, and something bad was happening.

Tony stopped, his ears straining to hear what exactly was going on. Bruce also stopped in utter confusion a good ten feet past Tony.

Tony stood there for a few moments as Bruce's nerves frayed bit by bit the more he stared at Tony’s vacant attention.

“Tony?” Bruce asked worriedly, “ is there something wrong?-” Before Bruce could ask any more questions, Tony took off into the alley. 

His custom Italian leather shoes smacked and beat against the unpleasantly humid concrete, but the filth of the city’s shadows was the last thing on his mind right now. No, not the last thing, that would be the book Bruce had been droning on about, but almost the last. Tony heaved as he sprinted down the alleyway, the stench growing stronger with each step. His lungs quickly began to scream at him; he wasn’t exactly in peak performance mode as of late, but Tony pressed on. He made a quick left, then a right, then another left, before finding himself in a dead end, facing down the source of the rank scent.

 

An Alpha stood over a small Omega girl, pressing her against a wall and pinning her under him. She tried her best to fight him off, but was losing. Desperately.

The Alpha laughed low, taunting her as she cried almost silently, trapped between a tyrant and a hard place. To the Alpha, this all must have been a sick game of cat and mouse to win over the Omega. As if she was merely an object to be won.

Nothing had happened yet, but it didn’t look like she had much more time.

A low growl escaped Tony, and he stalked a few steps towards the Alpha. The man turned to see him and almost laughed, “Are you lost pal? I would help, but I'm kinda in the middle of something, so fuck off.”

“Get off of her.” Tony growled low, baring his teeth. Small fangs glinting in the light.

The Alpha laughed harder now. “Why do you care, Omega? Not like she’s complaining.” He snickered as the girl kept quiet. “ Besides, what's it to you?” 

The Alpha continued laughing, not making a move off the poor girl, who still had tears streaming down her cheeks.

That is, up until Bruce stumbled in.

“I thought I’d lost you for a second-” Bruce was a panting mess. He paused to catch his breath, but fell silent upon the sight before him. “What’s going on here?” Bruce asked dangerously.

The Alpha gave a low growl. “Okay, it was fun at the start, but that’s enough of you guys.” He released the girl, who shrank against the wall, hitting the ground with a soft whimper.

The Alpha snarled and charged at Tony, grabbing his hoodie and lifting him a few inches off the ground. Tony gasped and struggled, clawing at the Alpha’s jacket with his own finely manicured nails.

Bruce immediately went to try to diffuse the situation. “Hey man, let’s not do anything rash-!” Bruce was cut off when the Alpha pushed him down. Bruce’s head cracked against the ground.

“Stay down, or you’ll get what’s coming to ya!” the Alpha threatened Bruce. “As for you,” the Alpha snarled as he violently thrashed Tony in the air, eventually making his sunglasses fall. Tony was exposed.

The man paused for a second, studying a struggling Tony. “Hey... wait a second. You're-”

Right then, the atmosphere changed. The still air carried a different scent.  
It was by no means new scent, it was definitely there earlier, but it had... changed. Transformed.

The Alpha turned to where Bruce had been, where the newly, strong, musty, ripe scent of unsweetened gray tea came from.

The Hulk stood in Bruce’s place, a towering shadow in the alleyway. In his throat animated deep, low growls made the trash on the ground reverberate.

The Alpha let his grip slip from Tony, unceremoniously dumping him to the ground and stealing the breath from his lungs with it.

Tony struggled on the ground as a fit of coughs wrecked his body. 

The Hulk roared, causing the girl to scream and scramble to her feet in fear. She stood there crying as the Alpha man took a few steps back. The Hulk took a step toward them, then another, his presence filling the entirety of the space and suffocating the Alpha’s scent.

Tony had to do something, and fast, or this Alpha might become famous for all the wrong reasons.

The coughing seemed to have no end, but eventually Tony acquired air in lungs sufficient to speak and slowly sat up.

“Hey there, big guy,” Tony spoke through the coughs, carefully rising to his feet and making his way to the towering figure, “ Everything's okay, big guy. We're good here.” He tried to soothe The Hulk.

Tony made his best attempts to project as many calming, safe pheromones into the air as he could, but his scent was still sour with fear. 

The Hulk roared, pushing past Tony with the decency to acknowledge his existence. 

“Didn't work the first time, of course it didn't, when does it ever,” Tony complained to no one.

Tony could smell the Alpha’s flight or fight response begin to kick in, the air flooding with testosterone.

The man roared and went to charge the monster. Tony dove for the man’s hips, bringing him down atop him. The girl screamed, distracting The Hulk from their struggle.

The man struggled, but Tony grappled him with a snarl. “You’d better stay down if you know what’s good for you.” He echoed the Alpha’s earlier threat. “Now quit it with the angry scent, or you’ll kill us both.” He was only half-lying.

The Alpha struggled for a moment more, but went limp when a close step brought the size of The Hulk’s foot into stark contrast. Tony’s nose wrinkled at the scent of uric acid. Gross, and the guy was on top of him too.

Tony pushed the Alpha away without much thought, and the Alpha darted from the alleyway with a fearful cry. The Hulk started to follow, but Tony stood and blocked his path.

“Lets try this again, huh, big guy,” Tony gave the whole scent thing another go. He tried to project as much content and peaceful pheromones to The Hulk as he possibly could to calm him down one final time.

At first The Hulk only blinked in confusion at the sudden wall of pheromones that hit him. But it didn't take long for his Alpha side to accept the scent, and The Hulk began to purr. 

“That's it,” Tony cooed. “Let's all just calm down for a moment. The sun’s setting real low now.”

The Hulk’s frame began to shrink, and eventually Bruce was back with him.

Tony frowned as Bruce began to heave and quickly made his way to the newly back scientist.  
“Hey whats wrong man.” Tony asked concerned.

Tony wrinkled his nose as bruce wrenched and his lunch made a second appearance. Tony was there to rub circles in his friends back. A small attempt at helping.

Bruce coughed a few times before he faced Tony. “Did i Hulk out?” he asked sheepishly.

Tony chuckled. “Yeah, feeling better now?”

Bruce nodded. “The change from one extreme to the other always takes a toll on my body.” he said in a raspy voice.

Tony hummed in understanding and then turned to the Omega previously in danger.  
“How about you, are you okay?”

“You guys saved my life.”She said gratefully.

“Just another days work.” Tony said with a sigh.


End file.
